Photo Tip 1 : Rule of Thirds

ok, this is the most basic of basics. you can do this with any camera. actually, some cameras even have this function. i know the Coolpix series has it. the moment i learned about this (my brother, and a friend showed me how) i started applying it on most of the photos i take, from the moment i frame it on the screen / viewfinder.

basically, in visual arts, the Rule of Thirds is a principle that draws a more interesting composition for your piece. usually, we'll take a photo with the subject right smack in the centre. because that's what make sense. because it's order and balance and it's just plain common sense to focus on things on the center. and because that's what our parents thought us, right?

while there's nothing wrong with central-positioning your subjects, but by using the Rule of Thirds in your composition, you'll get a more balanced-looking picture - which is a focus on the subject matter on one side, and to draw the eyes towards the background on the other side. with these points of interest, you'll get a better focus for your subject matter, and a wider picture of your background without messing the bigger picture. and actually, it is a more natural way of looking at something.


i'm not sure if you get what i mean. so i'll show you in pictorial format. this is how it works:

first, imagine that your frame is divided into 9 parts in a grid like so :



so, the four points of interest are where the lines meet :



if you're taking portrait, it's gonna look like this (duh!) :



so, when you're composing the frame in your screen / viewfinder, try to get your subjects placed at any, or both the points. like so :







not limited to just flowers and lizards and a beautiful sunset in PD
(nak gak taruk gambar muka sendiri dan anak, wanker!)





so now you get it.

i hope.

i sometimes mengelat. i'd just shoot at random, coz sometimes when the moment comes, you don't have time to compose. what i do is, crop the photos using the Rule of Thirds in photoshop (or any other photo-editing software you're comfortable with).

try this out the next photo-op you got and see the difference in your composition. more artistic ke tak? but, with this, it doesn't mean that with every photo you take, you must apply the rule of thirds. depending on your own composition, central-positioning subjects work too. you be the judge.

random : i once was accused of taking too many 'senget' photos by my ex-boss. but i don't blame him, he doesnt know about Rule of Thirds.

more on Rule of Thirds here.